• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.90-95
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• 2011

On April 20, 2010, a well control event allowed hydrocarbon (oil and gas) to escape from the Macondo well onto Deepwater Horizon (DWH), resulting in an exploration and fire on the rig. While 17 people were injured, 11 others lost their lives. The fire continued for 36 hours until the rig sank. Hydrocarbons continued to flow out from the reservoir through the well bore and blowout preventer (BOP) for 87 days, causing an unprecedented oil spill. Beyond Petroleum (BP) and the US federal government tried various methods to prevent the oil spill and to capture the spilled oil. The corresponding responses were very challenging due to the scale, intensity, and duration of the incident that occurred under extreme conditions in terms of pressure, temperature, and amount of flow. On July 15, a capping stack, which is another BOP on top of the existing BOP, was successfully installed, and the oil spill was stopped. After several tests and subsea responses, the well was permanently sealed by a relief well and a bottom kill on September 19. This paper analyzes the subsea responses and engineering efforts to capture the oil, stop the leaking, and kill the subsea well. During the investigation and analysis of subsea responses, information was collected and data bases were established for future accident prevention and the development of subsea engineering.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.552-567
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• 2017

The floating crane vessel in waves gives rise to the motion of the lifted object which is connected to the hoisting wire. The dynamic tension induced by the lifted object also affects the motion responses of the floating crane vessel in return. In this study, coupled motion responses of a floating crane vessel and a lifted subsea manifold during deep-water installation operations were investigated by both experiments and numerical calculations. A series of model tests for the deep-water lifting operation were performed at Ocean Engineering Basin of KRISO. For the model test, the vessel with a crane control system and a typical subsea manifold were examined. To validate the experimental results, a frequency-domain motion analysis method is applied. The coupled motion equations of the crane vessel and the lifted object are solved in the frequency domain with an additional linear stiffness matrix due to the hoisting wire. The hydrodynamic coefficients of the lifted object, which is a significant factor to affect the coupled dynamics, are estimated based on the perforation value of the structure and the CFD results. The discussions were made on three main points. First, the motion characteristics of the lifted object as well as the crane vessel were studied by comparing the calculation results. Second, the dynamic tension of the hoisting wire were evaluated under the various wave conditions. Final discussion was made on the effect of passive heave compensator on the motion and tension responses.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2016

An experimental study on a subsea installation using an offshore crane was conducted. Concrete blocks, suction piles, and manifolds were considered in this study. Free decay tests were conducted to investigate the fluid characteristics of the subsea structures. The added masses of the structures were estimated. The motion response amplitudes of the subsea structures were compared for different structures and water depths. In addition, the dynamic tension transfer function of the crane wire was investigated. The root mean square values of the heave motion and the dynamic amplification factor of the wire tension were investigated in irregular waves.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.720-738
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• 2015

This study examined the dynamic response of a subsea pipeline under an impact load to determine the effect of the seabed soil. A laboratory-scale soil-based pipeline impact test was carried out to investigate the pipeline deformation/strain as well as the interaction with the soil-pipeline. In addition, an impact test was simulated using the finite element technique, and the calculated strain was compared with the experimental results. During the simulation, the pipeline was described based on an elasto-plastic analysis, and the soil was modeled using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The results obtained were compared with ASME D31.8, and the differences between the analysis results and the rules were specifically investigated. Modified ASME formulae were proposed to calculate the precise structural behavior of a subsea pipeline under an impact load when considering sand- and clay-based seabed soils.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 2015

This study presents a 3-dimensional flow-structure interaction analysis of subsea risers in water flows. Two structural connectors (flat and circular couplers) were intentionally devised and numerically tested using ANSYS CFX to investigate how these couplers behave under the water flows. In the flow analysis, the water field was constructed with an inlet, outlet, and symmetric boundary conditions. As a result, the responses (drag coefficients and pressure fields) were obtained and the pressure fields were applied for the structural analysis. Finally, the structural responses (displacements and equivalent stresses) of the risers were measured to demonstrate the efficiency of the riser connectors.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.275-286
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• 2009

In order to establish the causes and measures for technical risks that occur in various ground conditions when a subsea tunnel is excavated, it is important to configure expected risk scenarios. In addition, when the risk scenarios are classified because the scenario that occurs along all tunnel route and the scenario limited to some area are considered together, a logical framework with systematic and organized responses can be provided for project managements. In this research, project risk scenarios and management elements were configurated, and the project schedule was established for the management techniques to the risk scenario. The risk scenarios expected in a subsea tunnel were classified into a common risk scenario and a special risk scenario, and the concept which can combine with the project management elements was derived.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2014

Flexible risers have been used extensively in recent years for floating and early production systems. Such risers offer the advantage of having inherent heave compliance in their catenary thereby greatly reducing the complexity of the riser-to-rig and riser-to subsea interfaces. Another advantage with flexible risers is their greater reliability. Concerns about fatigue life, gas permeation and pigging of lines have been overcome by extensive experience with these risers in production applications. In this paper, flexible riser analysis results were compared through coupled and uncoupled dynamic analyses methods. A time domain coupled analysis capability has been developed to model the dynamic responses of an integrated floating system incorporating the interactions between vessel, moorings and risers in a marine environment. For this study, SPM (Single Point Mooring) system for an FSU in shallow water was considered. This optimization model was integrated with a time-domain global motion analysis to assess both stability and design constraints of the flexible riser system.

• Journal of Coastal Disaster Prevention
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.149-155
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• 2014

Flexible risers have been used extensively in recent years for floating and early production systems. Such risers offer the advantage of having inherent heave compliance in their catenary thereby greatly reducing the complexity of the riser-to-rig and riser-to subsea interfaces. Another advantage with flexible risers is their greater reliability. Concerns about fatigue life, gas permeation and pigging of lines have been overcome by extensive experience with these risers in production applications. In this paper, flexible riser analysis results were compared through coupled and uncoupled dynamic analyses methods. A time domain coupled analysis capability has been developed to model the dynamic responses of an integrated floating system incorporating the interactions between vessel, moorings and risers in a marine environment. For this study, SPM (Single Point Mooring) system for an FSU in shallow water was considered. This optimization model was integrated with a time-domain global motion analysis to assess both stability and design constraints of the flexible riser system.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.99-113
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• 2012

Steel Catenary Risers (SCR) are the simplest and often the most economic solution compared to other riser types such as flexible pipe, riser towers, top tensioned risers, etc. The top of a SCR is connected to the host platform riser porch. The other end of the SCR connects to flowlines from subsea wells. The riser touchdown point (TDP), which is the location along the riser where contact with the sea floor first occurs, exhibits complex behaviors and often results in compression and fatigue related issues. Heave dynamic responses of semisubmersibles in extreme and operating sea states are crucial for feasibility of SCR application. Recent full field measurement results of a deep draft semisubmersible in Hurricane Gustav displayed the considerable discrepancies in heave responses characteristics between the measured and the simulated results. The adequacy and accuracy of the simulated results from recognized commercial software should be examined. This finding raised the awareness of shortcomings of current commercial software and potential risk in mega investment loss and environmental pollutions due to SCR failures. One main objective of this paper is to attempt to assess the importance and necessity of accounting for viscous effects during design and analysis by employing indicator of viscous parameter. Since viscous effects increase with nearly third power of significant wave height, thus newly increased metocean criteria per API in central Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and even more severe environmental conditions in Western Australia (WA) call for fundamental enhancements of the existing analysis tools to ensure reliable and robust design. Furthermore, another aim of this paper is to address the impacts of metocean criteria and design philosophy on semisubmersible hull sizing in WA and GoM.